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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296140">Hand Pains</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonazine/pseuds/moonazine'>moonazine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:42:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonazine/pseuds/moonazine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen is enjoying a moment of peace on the walls of Skyhold, when a green light and a cry of pain draws his attention.</p><p>Lavellan had returned from a mission gone slightly wrong and didn't drop by to say she was back. Now, he knows why.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford, Female Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford, Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hand Pains</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chilled, mountain air blew tenderly against his face. Cullen leaned against the stone walls that surrounded Skyhold, finding a soothing peace in the twilight covered grounds.</p><p>Above him, twinkling stars speckled the night sky, whispering silent secrets as they gazed upon the rest of the world. The Moon sent down it's gentle light, casting deep shadows across the courtyard.</p><p>It was peaceful here, and for a moment he could forget about the mound of papers piled up on his desk. He could even push the impending doom upon the world that they fought to thwart to the back of his mind.</p><p>He closed his eyes, leaning his head back and drawing in a gulp of the frigid air. It tickled the back of his throat, but he loved it. Perhaps that was why she loved it, too. She always spoke so fondly of her wintry homelands.</p><p>A sudden flash of light danced before him, painting his once dark vision in red. His eyes snapped open, but the light was gone as quickly as it came.</p><p>A million thoughts raced through his head at once. One of their soldiers on night duty? No, their torchlight wouldn't have vanished so quickly. The Moon behind a cloud, maybe? A glance upward swiftly debunked that.</p><p>It came again, as though it sought to answer his questions. A green light, bobbing and quivering, reflected through the balcony windows of the Inquisitors chambers. It hovered in the air, and he held his breath. There were no rifts nearby, it shouldn't be reacting to anything.</p><p>Then, it fell toward the ground. His heart lurched, and he broke into a frantic dash to make it toward her room. Of course something had to be wrong- he was foolish to think he could get a moment of respite.</p><p>His thick boots skidded against the cobble walkway. He grasped the raised turret to steady himself, lest he send himself tumbling down the high walls in his hurry.</p><p>He grasped the cold, metal doorknob and held it. His chest heaved, and fighting to catch his breath, he heard it. A soft, choked sob, and a murmur of panic. He could almost smell her fear.</p><p>It stirred something within him, a longing to protect, a yearning to shelter. </p><p>He swung the door open, and time stopped. What was he thinking? He didn't know how to deal with this. She had mentioned it in a fleeting joke once before, but he didn't believe it to be so severe.</p><p>She lay in a heap on the ground, curled into a tight ball. She had squeezed her wrist until her knuckles were white, until her ashen skin was red. The green energy crackled and popped along that godforsaken mark upon her palm, and with its every pulse, she cried out in pain.</p><p>She didn't even know he was there. Her eyes were screwed shut, tears falling freely down her usually joyous and gleeful face. His heart twisted in unpleasant ways, and he found himself rooted to the spot.</p><p>He knew she had had a tough day. It was the one day she did not come by to say hello after returning from a mission. Varric had taken the mantle to inform him that she wouldn't be visiting today, that 'Lavellan had to get them all out of the way of a raging giant after unknowingly encroaching upon its territory.'</p><p>It was only when she let out an agonised wail, and when Flanker, her cat, hissed in fright, did he snap out of his anxious stupor.</p><p>He edged forward, dropping down onto his knees and gently wrapping his hands around her shoulders. No matter how many times he held her, her frail body always shocked him. Elves were naturally small and lithe, this he knew, but he always worried about breaking her.</p><p>"I'm here," He whispered, pressing a tender kiss to her clammy forehead. "You're alright, my love. I'm here."</p><p>Like he had uttered an ancient incantation, she relaxed into his embrace. This pattern he knew all too well. It was how she sought his comfort, entrusting herself entirely to him.</p><p>"It will ease," He reassured her, peppering her paled face with light kisses. "It always does. You can do this."</p><p>She parted her mouth to utter words, but none came. It fell away in a pained sob, her mark flaring up once again, before the light faded and left them in the dark.</p><p>Silence encased them, but Cullen knew it would not last long. Soon, she would speak to him, offer a terrible joke that would somehow make them both laugh. She was good at that. Even as everything fell apart, she still held on to her sense of humour.</p><p>"That's one way to announce that I'm back, I suppose," And there it was.</p><p>He chuckled quietly, brushing snow white hair from her face so he could see those heavenly eyes that he adored so much. </p><p>She peered up at him through watery, crystal blue eyes. Despite her tears, they still shone. He didn't know how she managed to stay so upbeat, even amidst all this carnage.</p><p>"That it is," He said, pulling her up further into his arms. He ran a series of loving kisses along her arm and to her neck. She shuddered at his touch. </p><p>"Does that happen often?" He asked. "I had thought it was stable. Is it a recent occurrence?"</p><p>She didn't reply straight away. Her fingers stretched in and out, and she winced at the occasional jolt of pain it caused.</p><p>"If I over-exert myself too much," She explained. "It… Acts up. Usually it's just a dull, continuous throbbing. But this certainly caught me off guard."</p><p>He frowned, gazing down at her. She was as worried as he was. The thought of losing her was more than he could bear, but her suffering like this… It was almost worse.</p><p>He moved his finger beneath her chin and tilted her head toward him. He placed his lips gingerly against hers, holding her tightly against him with his free arm.</p><p>Lavellan wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss with an angelic ferocity that only she could manage. </p><p>They parted only when they could not breathe. She leaned against his shoulder, trailing her fingers up and down his back.</p><p>"Can I stay with you tomorrow?" She said. "I can help you with your papers… I would much rather be inside where someone can see me, in case it happens again."</p><p>"I don't know how much work will actually get done," He laughed. "But I have no complaints. You may have to sit on my lap, though. I have no extra chairs."</p><p>She laughed sweetly, like music to his ears.</p><p>"You say that as though it's a problem."</p><p>"Is it?"</p><p>"Most certainly not."</p>
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